3 Hurt When Ambulance Crashes Into Truck On I-81

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. -- Three people were injured Friday morning when an ambulance rear-ended a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81 in Rockbridge County, according to Virginia State Police.

Police spokesman Sgt. Rob Carpentieri said the crash occurred in the northbound lanes near mile marker 191 about 7:15 a.m.

He said the ambulance was transporting a patient from Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital to the University of Virginia Medical Center when it collided with a truck. The patient who was being moved, as well as one of the patient's family members who was a front-seat passenger, were taken to Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Lexington, Carpentieri said.

Carilion spokesman Eric Earnhart said the patient and the relative were treated and released and continued on to UVa Medical Center later in the day.

The ambulance driver, Dustin Dalton, 24, was also taken to Stonewall Jackson, then airlifted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Carpentieri said.

Earnhart said Dalton was listed in good condition Friday.

According to Carpentieri, neither the driver of the truck nor a medic in the back of the ambulance was injured. He said the Ford E-450 ambulance, a Carilion vehicle, was totaled.

The crash remains under investigation.The Virginia Department of Transportation said lanes were closed and traffic was at times backed up as far as three miles, but the interstate reopened shortly before 9 a.m